perce
\pɛʁs\
The verdict
“perce” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #18,016 in French word frequency and used as a noun.
- #18,016
- frequency rank, French
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Outil pour percer.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | perce |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \pɛʁs\ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #18,016 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “perce” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for perce is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \pɛʁs\. Corpus data places it at rank #18,016 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for perce, with forms such as "eprce", "pecre", and "percce". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "pré", "père", "pire", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is perce, spelled P-E-R-C-E.
Definition
- 1Outil pour percer.
- 2Action de percer, souvent dans la locution adverbiale mettre en perce en parlant des pièces de vin, des tonneaux auxquels on fait une ouverture pour en tirer le liquide.
- 3Manière dont un instrument à vent est percé.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: eprce,pecre,percce,perec,perrce,pperce,prece
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of perce - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "perce"?
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Using “perce”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is P-E-R-C-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \pɛʁs\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “pré” - see the side-by-side comparison. perce vs pré
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.